The Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulations for the energy industry on Friday which will limit, for the first time, the amount of carbon that gas- and coal-fired plants can emit into the atmosphere.

And though many of the larger environmental groups in the country welcomed the new restrictions, more critical observers of the EPA announcement argue the rules don’t go far enough in terms of limiting emissions. Meanwhile the Obama administration, in fact, is preparing to use huge amounts of public money to prop up the U.S. coal industry.

Such a scheme, according to one critic, “will make only modest cuts to power plant emissions” at a moment in history when much more dramatic actions are needed.

The EPA is holding a 60-day public comment period on the rules, and if changes are not made, the new regulations would compel newly constructed plants to limit their carbon emissions to 1,100 lbs of carbon per megawatt hour of energy produced.

This limitation, specifically when it comes to new coal plants, would demand implementation of what is called “carbon capture and sequestration” systems that would, in theory, contain emissions by pumping the plant’s pollution back into the ground.

However, the problem with this technology, as many experts have said: it simply doesn’t exist.

This, in many ways, is why many of the larger green groups, including NRDC and Sierra Club, spent much of Friday championing the announcement. If the technology is unproven, then the plant owners cannot meet the standard, and the welcome result is that no new coal plants can be built.

“Obama is not launching a war on coal. He’s bending over backwards to keep coal viable.” – Bill Scher, Campaign for America’s Future

“No longer will new electric plants be allowed to endanger our health with unchecked carbon pollution and the climate change it causes,” said NRDC president Frances Beinecke in a laudatory statement after the EPA rule was announced. “Instead, our nation can start creating a 21st century power fleet—one that uses the latest clean technologies and reduces the threat of climate change.”

“The EPA’s proposed carbon pollution standards will protect Americans from dangerous air pollution, protect our communities from harmful carbon pollution, and strengthen our economy with clean energy jobs.,” said Nia Martin-Robinson, an organizer with Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign.